Further reading:Beautiful Girls by Lisa See. A historical novel about two sisters who are models (beautiful girls) for the calendars and adverts in Shanghai in the late 1920s/early 30's. The sisters flee to America when the Japanese invade Shanghai. the first part of the book paints a vivid and insightful portrait of Shanghai and its inhabitants.

China Modern by Ou-Fan Lee (Harvard University Press). Contains chapters on early Chinese cinema, novelist Eileen Chang and Hong Kong films set in the Shanghai of the 1920s and 30s.